This is going to start off like an old movie line. “This one time, at band camp . . .”
But this isn’t about band camp. It has come time to trot out some personal remembrances of Dirk Nowitzki. So here are a few of my favorite moments from having covered almost all of his career – at least the last 17 years of it, plus all the retirement ceremonies.
We’ll skip over the obvious moments, like the championship and the MVP award and get to the good stuff.
There was that preseason trip to Mexico City, where Nowitzki, Steve Nash and a few others of us were having some cervezas at that little cantina across the street from the hotel.
It was back before championships or trips to the NBA finals. Just a bunch of young (or younger, in my case) guys hanging out in a foreign land. And the memory fades about how many drinks were had that were on fire. But there were some.
And then there was that road trip to the East Coast. It was sometime in Dirk’s prime and the Mavericks’ had an off-day practice at the Washington Wizards’ practice gym.
As he often would, Nowitzki stayed after the practice, after the buses left and hoisted shots with one of the player-development coaches shagging rebounds for him. Since Nowitzki was the guy I needed to talk to, I waited on the sideline.
It was worth the wait since he told me after he was done that he was willing to take less money in his upcoming contract extension if it would help the Mavericks get significantly more talent around him.
It wasn’t the only time he would make that sacrifice, but that’s the day we all found out just what Nowitzki was made of.
And who could forget the trip to Berlin for the preseason game there, when half of Germany was hanging outside the hotel waiting for a glimpse of their national hero. And when Dirk limped through that exhibition against Bayern Munich, he then divulged after the game that he was in need of knee surgery, but was not for one second going to miss playing in front of his countrymen.
Again, salt-of-the-earth doesn’t begin to describe him.
There are lots more memories, some of which are a little salty. But the point is that Dirk is as human as the rest of us and proud to be “no bigger piece of the puzzle” than anybody else.
It’s been a privilege to work with him and to get to know him.
And now, your questions:
From AC 24: When will Isaiah Thomas come back? This Friday or Sunday? And when is his last day with the Mavericks?
SEFKO: The Mavericks signed Thomas on Jan. 29. He got his positive COVID-19 test the next day. So his 10-day hardship contract will expire on Jan. 8, a day before his 10 days in isolation would end. As best as I can tell, the Mavericks would have to re-sign Thomas to another 10 days for him to be eligible to play again for them. That’s certainly possible given that the Mavericks will be without Kristaps Porzingis until next week. There could also be more players entering health and safety protocols. Thomas had a solid night in Sacramento when he was signed earlier that day and joined the team on just a few hours’ notice. He’s got loads of experience, and if Luka Dončić has ankle troubles that sideline him for any length of time, they could be in the market for point guard help.
From DOUG S.: Speaking of Luka, what’s his health outlook going forward? And are you surprised he was second in Western Conference guards in the first results of All-Star voting.
SEFKO: Not surprised in the slightest, to answer your second question first. The All-Star fan voting is such an international thing. People in Europe and China, where Luka has a major following, can vote every bit as much as people in Dallas or anywhere else. Luka’s appeal is universal. And by the way, if somehow he’s not voted into the game, the coaches will select him as a reserve, assuming he doesn’t miss a lot more games. Which brings us to your first question. You hate to see a young player deal with a nagging injury that continues to get tweak every so often. Luka said earlier this week that he’s going to have to deal with pain in his left ankle. And then he wrenched his right ankle against Golden State Wednesday. He’s iffy for the Houston game on Friday. The guess here is that the Mavericks will hold him out at least one game, if not more. The rest of the team is playing well. The Mavericks need and want Luka as healthy as possible in two months or so, which means doing the right thing now is imperative.
From RYAN: Does Dirk’s statue really have those two extra balls?
SEFKO: In and of itself, this question sounds really R-rated. But it’s a very sensible question since Mark Cuban unveiled a mini-statue of the greatest Maverick on Wednesday night. And I got a lot – a lot – of questions about it. Hey, you try to create the illusion of him shooting a shot however you can. Maybe this one doesn’t work for everybody. But what the heck. It’s a statue. You can be certain that the one that ends up in front of American Airlines Center will be bigger and better.
From SERGIO S: Is it just me or is Luka way better on defense this year? Not sure if the numbers would support it, but just by watching, he looks to have made big strides in that area, especially with the steals he’s getting.
SEFKO: The numbers support your argument. But the eye test supports it better. The Mavericks are No. 6 in the NBA in overall defensive rating. That means everybody has done a solid job of working on defense. And, apart from helping on double teams or drivers to the basket, working hard is the best defensive principle there is. But when it comes to numbers, his overall defensive rating is 106. That’s a significant improvement from the 111, 110 and 109 he averaged the first three years of his career. As teams like Golden State learned long ago, if you have some defensive anchors, the rest of the team tends to follow suit. The Mavericks have been very solid defensively for the last month. Keeping it going is the key.
From RYAN: Whoever on this page has access to Mark Cuban, please tell him to remove those two extra balls from Dirk’s statue. And his head is out of proportion with the body.
SEFKO: See, I told you. And there were a lot more from where this game from. Consider Mark informed. But don’t expect the mini-statue to change.
Twitter: @ESefko
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